Furniture brand says covid tailwind is subsiding
Online-only furniture company Article has published a review of its achievements in 2021 that appear to confirm the impression that furniture and direct-to-consumer retailing were among the sectors to have fared well during the lockdown periods of the past two years.
Based in Vancouver, the company launched in 2013 and offers furniture to consumers in Canada and the US. It uses full aniline leather in many of its products and has reported that 70% of its best-selling products use leather.
Customers can feel the leather their sofa will be made from before buying. Article sends A4-size samples of any leather in its range for customers to check the colour and the feel before committing to buying.
It doesn’t make public its revenue figures, but has said that it achieved revenue growth of 45% in 2021.
Other milestones it achieved last year are the delivery of its millionth order since launch and the opening of three new fulfilment centres in the US and Canada. It also grew its global workforce to 1,300 people.
Commenting on its 2021 performance, co-founder and chief executive, Aamir Baig, acknowledged that Article had experienced the benefit of “tailwinds” during the pandemic but said these were subsiding now. He also warned that global supply chain disruption was likely to continue, meaning 2022 is likely to be a challenging year.
